Landon Loves To Dance

Landon has started really getting into music! He likes to bop along to it and the music teacher said he has a good sense of rhythm and beat. She thinks he will be a good athlete :) I wanted to share this cute video I took of Landon dancing this morning. He's at such a fun age! Happy Sunday!

Back on the Exercise Train

I got incredibly lucky in losing all of my baby weight. Landon nursed constantly and I became one of those annoying women who lost all of their weight from breastfeeding alone. I always thought women who said that were full of it until the same thing happened to me. I actually wound up losing all 32lbs from the pregnancy and then 10 more lbs. I was able to eat like a pig and lose weight at the same time. It was awesome.

All good things come to an end though. Landon is now nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and I will be weaning him one he's 1 in a few months (OMG). Since he's not eating from me so much, I am beginning to notice the weight slowly creep back up on me. I'm not willing to let that happen and I'm about 8lbs heavier than I'd like to be. Not a huuuuuuge deal and all of my pants still fit, but not wonderful either and I know if I'm not careful I will wind up gaining a lot more. I was actually starting to get a bit too skinny with the breastfeeding and Jeff was wondering where my butt went lol, so I don't want to go down that low again, but still.

Starting Monday, I am going to set my alarm and get up around 7:00am since Landon is almost always still sleeping at that time. I hate having to get up early since Landon does still wake up during the night, but there's really no other time for me to get a workout in. I plan to do the 30 Day Shred 3 times a week to start. As I get in better shape, I might throw in another day of it, or hop on the treadmill. I'm also going to be counting my calories using My Fitness Pal on my iphone. I just need to be careful that I don't cut out too many calories and cause my milk supply to tank, because being able to feed Landon comes first. I'm a huge snacker and I think seeing how many calories everything I put into my body is will help me make better choices. I've been basically able to eat whatever I want between pregnancy and breastfeeding for about a year and a half, so I know it's going to be a tough habit to break. I'm writing all of this here so I will be held accountable to all of you. I plan on posting updates here and there to track my progress.

I will never be able to wear a bikini again due to my lovely stretch marks, but we do plan on taking Landon to the beach this summer, and I'd like to look good in my 1 piece suits. I also want to be healthy and set a good example for my son. Wish me luck!

Happy Valentine's Day!

(The back says "I <3 Dad")

Jeff and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday night. We went to Capital Grille and my parents watched Landon. It was so nice to go out on a date and get dressed up in something other than yoga pants or jeans. A nice dinner is always our Vday gift to each other, but I have a few other ideas this year as well, including making Jeff his favorite dinner tonight (lemon chicken bowties. So easy and Jeff adores it). I'll post more details once Jeff opens his gifts.

I hope everyone is having a great day! I am so very blessed to have 2 special boys to be my valentines this year! :)

Random iPhone Photo Dump

I love when people do these types of posts, so I decided to finally clean out my phone and share some random pics I took. Some of these are a couple of months old!

Jeff and I like to play Hanging With Friends against each other. Jeff almost always wins. I've won 3 times and I take a screen shot every time I do. It's a rare event.

I'm a big fan of Slingo for my iPhone. I play all the time while L nurses and one time I got this absolutely ridiculous score. I don't even know how this happened.

This was a nice text convo Jeff and I had once about poop-stained baby clothes. Do any of you remember the guy who would dub over Billy Mays commercials? If so, that what Jeff is referring to. If not, this will make no sense to you.

Someone fell asleep on the floor on Christmas Day...

This is a broken glass on the floor of Bertuccis. Landon kept boinking his head on the table when he put it down. Jeff tried to block him one time and knocked his glass full of iced tea all over the floor. I thought it was funny, so I took a pic :)

My new kitchen towels from Target. Love.

A friend from church had a baby girl a couple weeks ago. I got her these super sweet sleepers from Target. I love the pink giraffe. If I ever have a girl we will go broke, which is why I don't think God will give us one lol.

Found these at Michael's. So tacky, yet I love them. I almost bought one for our front door, but Jeff would have killed me hahaha

Our Love Story

I've seen a lot of bloggers linking up on From Mrs To Mama to share their love stories, so I decided to join in!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We started dating in December 2006, and we were an official couple by New Year's Day 2007

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We met on Match.com! I had gotten out of a 3.5 year relationship and I was ready to meet someone else. I was a teacher, so there weren't many guys at work and I didn't care for the ones I did work with. I'm not a big bar person, so I knew I wouldn't meet someone that way. My friend Rissa told me to join Match.com, and I figured why not? I signed up for 6 months, but met Jeff pretty fast on there and deactivated my account after about a month.

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We will be married 3 years on July 3. I can't believe it's been that long already!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?  If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We got married on LI, where my husband's family lives. The ceremony was at New Life Community Church in Sayville, and the reception was at the Hamlet Wind Watch Golf and Country Club in Hauppague. We had 119 people at our wedding, so it wasn't huge, but it wasn't really small either.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

I call him Schmeff sometimes. No idea why lol!

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He's always willing to help someone, he's a wonderful husband and father, he makes me laugh all the time.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

He proposed on the promenade near the Brooklyn Bridge on July 18, 2008. He went there once with a friend years earlier and thought it was a beautiful place and said he always wanted to propose to his future wife there. We had gone out for pizza at Grimaldi's first, then my MIL, who was with us, went into the ice cream shop to get dessert and Jeff proposed! I was expecting it, but didn't know exactly when it would happen, so it was still a bit of a surprise!

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Honestly? Neither. He used to get me flowers for V-day, but he doesn't anymore and it's OK. I like flowers, but they die and then I have to clean them up lol. We like to go out for nice dinners and get champagne then.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Both sound wonderful, but I am definitely more of a movie on the couch kind of girl.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I want to go back to Vegas with him once all of our children are a lot older, and I'd love to visit Hawaii.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We're celebrating this Saturday by going to a nice dinner at Capital Grille. My parents are coming to watch Landon for us. On actual Valentine's Day, I have my "100 Reasons I Love You" gift for Jeff along with a couple other surprises. 

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope. We normally don't do gifts aside from dinner. I'm doing a few things this year because I thought of them and want to. If I want something, Jeff typically just tells me to get it, so I'm hard to shop for haha!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

I think spending quality time together every day is important, as well as communicating. Jeff and I tend to get our down time together in bed before we go to sleep each night. We spend a few minutes talking and catching up. It's nice to have a little time alone while Landon is sleeping.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Love created this beautiful little boy that we love more than anything in the world.

Landon Is 8 Months Old!

Dear Landon,

Another month has passed and you are now 8 months old. I really can't believe it and I wish time would slow down just a little bit.

You still love to chew on EVERYTHING, but you are also starting to interact more with your toys. You like to make a drum out of everything, you like to shake things to see what kind of sound they make, and you like to play on your little piano. You're also obsessed with this weeble popper toy Grandma got you for Christmas.

You love to make huge messes for me to clean up! You especially enjoy sitting at your basket full of books, pulling them all out (and chewing on them of course) and leaving them on the floor. If I try to clean them up, you just pull them all right back out. I think it's a fun game for you.

We read a lot of books throughout the day. I think your favorites are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "Who Said Moo?," "Hop On Pop," and "Dr. Seuss' ABC's." You're also obsessed with your kitten touch & feel book from Aunt Amy. You love looking at your animal or numbers & shapes flashcards while I read you the facts on the back or talk about what's going on in the picture. We do this every morning after your oatmeal and fruit.

You sit up beautifully, and you roll like a champ! You can go across the room really fast, so I can't leave you for a second! You also like to lay on your belly and turn yourself around. You are not crawling yet, but you will get up on all fours in your crib and on a carpeted floor, which we don't have in our house!

You've had some big changes this month! I can't carry you in the Ergo anymore in front because it hurts my back and hips. You are now sitting in shopping carts and you love it! When we grocery shop you try to grab my list and the scanner gun. You are also sitting in high chairs at restaurants and enjoy looking around and eating puffs while we eat our food. We also moved you out of your infant car seat and into your convertible seat. You have more room and now that you're used to it, you're very happy in it. Since you're not in the infant seat anymore, that means you're now forward facing in your stroller too, which you seem to like.

You are still a wonderful eater! You are eating mainly stage 3 foods and are doing great with the thick, chunky foods. You also adore Baby Mum Mums and puffs. You still only have 2 teeth (but I believe you are working on your top ones too) but you are "chewing" your food before you swallow. We are working on your pincher grasp, and you are getting better and better at it and are able to feed yourself more puffs than you used to. You are also drinking water from a straw sippy cup like a pro! You are nursing every 2-4 hours, usually around every 3, and getting solids 3 times each day. It's been nice that you're going longer because we can go out and do things and I don't have to worry about feeding you while we're out.

You are sleeping pretty well! You go down around 8:00pm and sleep until 11:00 or 12:00 before you want to eat. Then you usually do a 5-6 hour stretch, followed by another 2ish hour stretch. You're usually up for the day around 8:45 and take a nap about 2 hours after you wake up and you're usually down for 1-2 hours. Your second nap comes 3 hours after you wake up from the first one, but you tend to take a short, 40 minute snooze then.

We've been on a few play dates and you seem to like hanging out with other babies. You are more aware when there is another kid nearby and you interact and smile at them a bit more now. You are also still going to Kindermusik twice a week and enjoying that a lot! It's nice to see you be able to do more there now that you're a bit older, but you still love putting all of the fun toys and instruments in your mouth. You cry when we try to take one toy in particular away and you usually wind up chewing on it all class!

You are the happiest little man ever! I take you all over the place and I always get comments on how cute you are, how happy you are, and that you have gorgeous blue eyes and a great smile. You really do make my life easier because of your happy personality. You have been giving open mouthed kisses for months and it's just the sweetest thing! You will grab my or Daddy's hair, pull us in towards you, and give us the biggest kiss on our cheeks! It makes me melt every single time. You also like to give hugs and are such a snuggle little guy. I hope you never stop being so lovey and sweet with us, although I'm sure you will when you're a teenager haha!

You are very ticklish in certain spots and you love getting zerbits on your tummy. For whatever reason, you also find it funny when I kiss your hands. Peek-a-boo is still a favorite, and you will actually look for us now if we hide behind a wall or door when we play. You also adore when Daddy tosses you up in the air and swings you around a little bit. I think you're going to take after him and like theme park rides, unlike your mommy!

One thing you really don't like is traveling. This month we took you to PA to see Grandpop and Oma and you were miserable for a good chunk of the 2.5 hour car ride. You also slept terribly while we were there, almost as bad as you did at Granny's at Christmastime. Once we got back home, you went back to sleeping well again, thank goodness! Accodring to Grandma, you get that from your mommy because she told me I did the exact same thing when I was a baby. To this day I still don't sleep well when I'm not in my own bed!

You are babbling like crazy and making all different letter sounds! We're having a lot of fun listening to you and talking back. You love to "talk" very loudly all the time, especially to random strangers in the supermarket! It's the cutest!

You LOVE animals, especially cats! Our cat Peanut has basically become YOUR cat! She adores you so much and you love her right back. She hangs out with us all day and you love to pet her and watch her move around. You smile and squeal with delight whenever she's nearby.

Stats:

Weight: My guess is around 25 lbs.

Height: No idea, but you've definitely grown because some of your pants and 1 piece outfits are too short now.

You wear size 4 diapers and I might start putting you in 5's at night to avoid pee leaks.

You are in size 12 month clothes.

Landon, it's been such a joy and a blessing to watch how much you've changed this month. Every month I say you're at such a fun age, and it really does keep getting better and better. We love your happy little personality and you can always put a smile on our faces. I'm starting to have a hard time with the fact that in just 4 short months you will be 1 and a toddler, not a baby anymore, but I look forward to seeing what you do next. You are learning so much every day and I love that I get to be the one to teach you a lot of it! We love you so much!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy